Need for Speed: Rivals Review (PS4, Xbox One)

Street Racers and Police battle in the Ghost developed ‘Need for Speed Rivals’. Thankfully this game is more in line with the Hot Pursuit Reboot. Rivals has a light-storyline, but We’re here for the driving. I played both new and current gen copies of rivals. Each version is great looking, but popping in the PS4/Xbox One version, you can find the differences instantly.

The Graphics shine when weather effects kick in. The Forza 5 development team could take some notes. Wind tosses leaves around, rain pours, water drips down the car. Particle effects are insane on PS4 and Xbox One. The climate change’s on the fly, making racing at different times more interesting. That’s right folks, you can race at night. You hear that Turn 10? Wait until you check out the snow effects. A sight to behold.

We know Redview county is a great map to look at, but how about cruising? There are many country-side roads. Gamers wanting more city based locations like in Most Wanted or Underground, will be disappointed. Those who enjoy calmer racing areas, you’ll feel right at home. However, this place just needs more stuff. If we’re supposed to free-roam this area, give us things to do within the map. Ramps to fly off, secrets to find, items to smash. More!

Gameplay is ruled by Speed points, or SP. This is the currency used to Unlock performance upgrades for cars. Of course, those who want to bypass earning points, EA offers time savers packs. On the Police side of things, racers you bust will give-out SP as well. Depending on the wanted level of the driver, the payout is a lot higher. Playing as a street racer, Remaining on the road longer evading the law, increases your heat level. Escape and cash-out with higher points.

AllDrive is the selling point of Rivals. Play the campaign with up to 6 players. Driving alongside other people, will net gamers more speed points. While you could speed around the map slamming into people for hours, sliding the D-Pad to the right will bring up a whole list of goals. This is the GPS system. Find repair zones, and other activities with ease. The game wants you to be online. Playing off, you can’t even pause it. The only intermission available is when players drive back to their safezones. Getting back isn’t always easy. I understand that’s what makes the game challenging, but it also causes issues. The game shoves law enforcement at the player as they frantically zip towards their hideout. Make it and bank SP. Wish I could just send my racer or officer back into their zones with a few button presses. If you have business to take care of in the real world, this makes things rather inconvenient.

Glitches happen way too often. Completing challenges, then losing the function of steering the car. Another took the in-game camera and made it do a full 360 spin (several times) while I’m in the car chasing down a perp. You can imagine this caused several wrecks. The game would bring up the pause screen randomly during the middle of a mission. These errors can really hurt gameplay. After crashing a whip, the respawn system will drop you in awkward places at times, making it even harder to catch up if you’re already lagging behind.

Escaping pursuits is fun, but not really rewarding outside of earning SP. In GTA or other NFS titles, when you elude law enforcement there is a moment of relaxation. In Rivals, You don’t really get a second to breathe. More cops will show, it’s pretty much guaranteed. It is better being an officer, so you can have a second to chill.

Customization isn’t too deep. Pick a few colors, change decals. Use SP to strengthen race cars, improve the handing, durability, and top speed as well. You can’t go deeper than that, but again this is an arcade style racer. The vehicles given to you come often and they deliver. Both sides of the law and end up with nice rides. Breaking the speed limit, zipping down the open road definitely feels satisfying as ever, especially when the advanced cars unlock.

Need for Speed Rivals shows us early what to expect from next-gen gaming. I just can’t shake the feeling that we’ve played this game a couple of years ago, and had more fun doing it in the past. NFSR certainly has its moments, but we’re not sure how long those will last. Nicer Cars and Better gadgets will unlock, but the place where the action happens, wears out sooner than it should.

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3 comments

I thought Rivals looked fantastic, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the open world concept. When it worked, it worked, but as a cop I’d sometimes ride along for 10 minutes without crossing paths with anyone. When a racer finally made headlines, every cop in the game rushed to their position to try and bust them, leading to a lot of cop-on-cop wrecks. I don’t know, maybe that’s the appeal, but after about 5 or 6 hours I sent it back to Gamefly. Glad you guys enjoyed it though.